Improved horizontal alignment when using TextScript,
with DynamicText or LyricText.

A new command \magnifyStaff has been added which scales staff
sizes, staff lines, bar lines, beamlets and horizontal spacing generally
at the Staff context level. Staff lines are prevented from being
scaled smaller than the default since the thickness of stems, slurs, and
the like are all based on the staff line thickness.

InstrumentName now supports text-interface.

There is now support for controlling the ‘expression level’ of
MIDI channels using the Staff.midiExpression context property.
This can be used to alter the perceived volume of even sustained notes
(albeit in a very ‘low-level’ way) and accepts a number value between
0.0 and 1.0.

Two new properties have been added for use in
fret-diagram-details when using the \fret-diagram-verbose
markup command; fret-label-horizontal-offset which affects the
fret-label-indication and paren-padding which controls the
space between the dot and the parentheses surrounding it.

A new markup command \justify-line has been added. Similar to
the \fill-line markup command except that instead of setting
words in columns, the \justify-line command balances the
whitespace between them ensuring that when there are three or more
words in a markup, the whitespace is always consistent.

A new flexible template suitable for a range of choral music, is now
provided. This may be used to create simple choral music, with or
without piano accompaniment, in two or four staves. Unlike other
templates, this template is ‘built-in’, which means it does not
need to be copied and edited: instead it is simply \include’d
in the input file. For details, see Built-in templates.

The positioning of tuplet numbers for kneed beams has been significantly
improved. Previously, tuplet numbers were placed according to the
position of the tuplet bracket, even if it was not printed. This could
lead to stranded tuplet numbers. Now they are now positioned
closer to the kneed-beam when an appropriate beam segment exists for its
placement and when the the bracket is not drawn.

Collision detection is also added, offsetting horizontally if too close
to an adjoining note column but preserving the number’s vertical
distance from the kneed beam. If the number itself is too large to
fit in the available space the original, bracket-based, positioning
system is used instead; and in the event of a collision (e.g. with an
accidental) the tuplet number is moved vertically away instead.

\lyricsto and \addLyrics have been ‘harmonized’. Both
now accept the same kind of delimited argument list that \lyrics
and \chords accept. Backward compatibility has been added so
music identifiers (i.e. \mus) are permitted as arguments. A
convert-ly rule has been added that removes redundant uses of
\lyricmode and rearranges combinations with context starters such
that \lyricsto in general is applied last (i.e. like
\lyricmode would be).

Scheme functions and identifiers can now be used as output definitions.

Scheme expressions can now be used as chord constituents.

Improved visual spacing of small and regular ‘MI’ Funk and Walker
noteheads so they are now the same width as other shaped notes in
their respective sets. SOL noteheads are also now visually
improved when used with both the normal Aiken and Sacred Harp heads, as
well as with the thin variants.

Improved MIDI output for breathe marks. After tied notes, breaths take
time only from the last note of the tie; e.g.
{ c4~ c8 \breathe } performs as { c4~ c16 r } instead
of { c4 r8 }. This is more consistent with articulations and
how humans interpret breaths after ties. It now also makes it easier to
align simultaneous breathe marks over multiple parts, all with different
note lengths.

A new note head style for Tabulature has been added;
TabNoteHead.style = #'slash.

Four new Clef glyphs have been added Double G, Tenor G,
Varpercussion and varC and their related tessitura.

Isolated durations in music sequences now stand for unpitched
notes. This may be useful for specifying rhythms to music or
scheme functions. When encountered in the final score, the
pitches are provided by the preceding note or chord. Here are two
examples where this makes for readable input:

with multiple exceptions separated with | bar checks
(writing the exception pattern without pitches is convenient but
not mandatory). Previously, setting the beam exceptions would
have required writing

The most common articulations are now reflected in MIDI output.
Accent and marcato make notes louder; staccato, staccatissimo and
portato make them shorter. Breath marks shorten the previous
note.

This behavior is customizable through the midiLength and
midiExtraVelocity properties on ArticulationEvent.
See ‘script-init.ly’ for examples.

The PostScript functionality of stroke adjustment is no longer
applied automatically but left to the discretion of the PostScript
device (by default, Ghostscript uses it for resolutions up to
150dpi when generating raster images). When it is enabled, a more
complex drawing algorithm designed to benefit from stroke
adjustment is employed mostly for stems and bar lines.

Stroke adjustment can be forced by specifying the command line
option ‘-dstrokeadjust’ to LilyPond. When generating
PDF files, this will usually result in markedly better
looking PDF previews but significantly larger file size.
Print quality at high resolutions will be unaffected.